The Conquest

by Edith Layton

Book Overview

A Body Broken Many times Alexandria Gascoyne has been called upon to nurse forest animals back to health -- but never before have her brothers brought her a wounded man! Though pale and grievously injured, the unconscious nobleman in Alexandria's bed is as striking a male as she has ever seen. But this is a time for tender healing, not for fantasy and dreams that leave an innocent maid flushed and breathless. A Heart Reborn An angel has brought the...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380818639
• ISBN13: 9780380818631
• Release Date: July 2001
• Publisher: HarperTorch
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

The best was the last .....

A self-confessed admirer of Edith Layton, I wish to say only how very much I enjoyed this, the last of the 5 volume "C" series. I found it more introspective than the previous four stories with much of the book's action taking place in verbal and internal conversation. Indeed, the well done episode of the kidnapping and imprisonment of the hero, the Earl of Drummond, and the heroine, Alexandria Gascoyne, comes as somewhat of a surprise as it takes place in a novel which is largely of much internal anguish. It does, however, act as a catalyst for the hero and heroine manage to come to terms with their situations in life and, despite reluctant acknowledgement of the difficulties of turning on its head the social mores of the times, they find the courage to do so.There is a lot about love in this novel: the earl's love for his father which is indisputably returned; the love Alexandria has for her adoptive brothers; the love a woman who made a bad match had for her husband; the love of friends for each other. There is also a well drawn background here pointing to the social strictures of the times which too often in regency fiction are ignored allowing characters to behave like modern folk in costume. Drum, in finally getting his story told, seems to me to be the most credible, most rounded and most desirable of the "C" heros. He must, in this well crafted novel, address certain aspects of his own character and upbringing and, in largely credible way allow himself to love and be loved by a woman from an entirely different social class. How this happens is believeable and well told. This man is brilliant, kind, honest, caring and a good friend but it is, in the end, through the experience of helplessness following a serious injury, that he comes to see that love is the apsect of his life that is missing. How satisfying to see him find it with his spiritual if not social equal.Excellent stuff and a wonderful culmination to the "C" series.

A wonderful book

Each time I read an Edith Layton book I make new friends, and this was no exception. As an added benefit, I got to spend time with old friends from her other books in the series. Drum and Ally's story is the latest in Edith's "C" series, and just as wonderful as the others. Drum is powerfully attracted to Ally, but his deep love for his "high in the instep" father, the Duke of Winterton, places what seems like an insurmountable wall between them. It's not very often than I can sympathize with a character who is afraid to love another because of "rank", but Drum's love for his father made this all very believable and sympathetic. And it is wonderful to read a story where the characters are not the epitome of perfection, either physically or in their characters. I appreciate Edith's knack for making her characters human, while still giving me great escapist reading ;o) You will fall in love along with Ally and Drum, experience their confusion and their temptations and their sufferings, and cheer when they grow and mature in their outlooks. AND (surprisingly enough) you will learn to love the arrogant Duke who is their "obstacle". This book has definitely made it to my "keeper shelf", and I will be anxiously awaiting the next one. Edith Layton just keeps getting better...

LAYTON DOES IT AGAIN--WOWSER!

Oh, sighhhhhh. I'm still in a hazy daze after reading THE CONQUEST. What a rich, emotionally satisfying story! Alexandria is a poor country girl of unknown parentage who nurses a stranger back to health after his near-fatal accident. Drum is a gentleman who must remember that despite his attraction to the lovely nurse, she is not of his class and therefore ineligible for anything more than a light flirtation. The dark spectre of class distinction hovers between them, an intangible but very real barrier. Yet after Drum is well enough to return to London to look for a wife, he cannot forget Alexandria. He encounters her again in Town, and finds it impossible to stay away from her. Still, there is always the barrier between them. That barrier finally crumbles away when they are thrown into a situation where they both face certain death. Layton paints vivid, three-dimensional characters in the persons of Alexandria, Drum, and Drum's austere father. I ached for Alexandria as she fought her growing love for a man far above her station. I despaired when Drum felt he had to deny the urgings of his own heart to heed his father's insistence that he consider marriage to one of his class. I finished the book in one sitting and already I am tempted to go back and read it all over again. In this day and age when there seems to be an alarming number of poorly written books out there, it is always a pleasure to kick back with a Layton.

Unique & Engrossing

Like so many of Layton's books, The Conquest requires a reader with a brain, an attention span, and an openness to explore outside genre limitations. The social distance between hero and heroine in this time period is something completely alien to the modern experience. Drum considering a serious relationship with Alex is something akin to your son coming home and telling you he's in love with a same sex partner from a different race who also happens to be in prison. Not Done is an understatement.Layton's gift lies in allowing the characters to expose their world through their own eyes - she does not rely on the lazy convention of excessive explanation to show the reader where the book will go. The reader takes the journey at the same time as the inhabitants. Falling into Drum and Alex's world, modern reality falls to the wayside. The medical limitation, class limitation, all may seem absurd by our standards but in Drum and Alex's time this was reality. No other writer has the power to make this lost world seem as natural as Edith Layton and The Conquest is an excellent example of her skill as a storyteller. Fans of Mary Balogh owe it to themselves to explore the works of Edith Layton, and The Conquest is an excellent place to start. Too many historical novels are simply Hollywood movies set in a glittering backdrop. Too few of our authors create worlds true to history and humanity. In the instant that Drum realizes the true depth of the chasm between himself and the woman he has been desperately searching for the reader is so captivated by her that the loss is mutual. It doesn't seem impossible, it IS impossible. Drum and Alex are not only extremely realistic characters, they are persons of character and as such it is a pleasure to spend time with them. Please read this book and remind yourself why Regencies enthralled you in the first place.

A powerful tale

Her teenage younger brothers always bring home wounded animals and ultimately Alexandria Gascoyne ends up caring for the creatures. However this time it is different as they obtain her help using their door and his horse to carry the wounded unconscious man into their home. With no identification on him, the only thing Alexandria and the doctor she sent for know is that he is very wealthy. When he regains consciousness under her nursing, he introduces himself as the Earl of Drummond, Derek ?Drum? de Macy. When Drum heals, he reluctantly returns to London, leaving behind a now lonely Alexandria who misses their enlightened discussions. He craves to see her too so he sends for her though he knows his rank makes her unsuitable. As they fall in love, Drum has an unknown enemy who tried to kill him on that country road near his beloved?s home and will take other shots at it including at his most precious Ally. Fans of Edith Layton?s C Regency books will want to read THE CONQUEST, a powerful tale that brings back characters from the previous novels in the series. Though better to understand the support cast by reading the earlier novels, this story line tells the tale of the intrepid lead characters so that the new readers have a stand-alone book. The theme centers on love between social classes though some intrigue lingers throughout the plot. Regency aficionados, especially those, who give an A+ to Ms Layton?s C books, will cherish the latest entry.Harriet Klausner